Two of us UK citizens will be travelling round central asia from mid july 2008, starting over the border in Urumqi, Xinjiang. We can get a Kazakh visa easily it seems but no others without going to Beijing. Our plan is then to get a visa for Kazakhstan and then pick up a visa for each country in one of its neighbours as we travel. We speak chinese and english but no cenral asian languages (though we may have rudimentary Uyghur by then).
1) Has the Kyrgysz consulate in Urumqi been authorised to give out visas yet?
2) Has anyone crossed the Torugart pass lately? Is it as probelmatic as many say?
3) It seems possible but does anyone have experience of getting onward visas while on the go? In other words, can we get a Kyrgysz visa while in Kazakhstan and vice versa? I'd be curious about Tajikistan and Uzbekistan too.
4) How necessary are tour groups/agencies? Particularly with reference to the Letter of Invitation (LOI), crossing borders, and language help.
5) How awkward is crossing borders and getting official stuff done without any Russian or the relevant state's language?
Thanks!
Hi,
We got a Krygyz visa in Urumqi in March, so yes it is possible.
We also got our Kazakh visa in Bishkek, so again it is possible.
We didn't use any tour groups at all and we went from Urumqi, Kashgar, Osh, Bishkek, Almaty, Astana Kiev. Language is a problem but you can get by. If you can find someone to help you who speaks the native tounge it will definitely help though!
x
Hi,
You are able to get an Uzbek visa in Kyrgyz from the embassy in Bishkek - but you need to go there with a Russian speaker, although it's not difficult to find someone who will help you.
It is also possible to get a Tajik visa in Uzbekistan from the embassy in Tashkent, I don't know how that fits in with your route though?! For that visa you need an LOI (get it from stantours or another company like that) which will cost you £40 (last year's price). The visa itself cost $100, a lot but well worth it. Tajikistan is fabulous, get down to the Pamirs and travel the Wakhan corridor, spectacular and just so remote.
I didn't use any tour groups - except for the LOI - and I had no problems. As for the language thing, pick up a few words and you'll be fine. I went from Uzbekistan to Tajikistan and then up to Kyrgyzstan and didn't have any worries, just remember to register if you go to Gorno-Badakshan in Tajikistan!!
Any more questions PM me.
Ed
Tashkent is a good place to get visas, be they Kyrgyz, Chinese etc. Unfortunately, it sounds like you will have already passed through those countries by the time you get there...
The spanner in the works may be Turkmenistan, if you intend to go there, for which you would require an LOI, onward visa and/ or tour guide.
As for crossing borders with no language skills... I've crossed 4 so far with about 20 words of Russian and not much more. It has nearly backfired once, when it looked for about 5 minutes like the Uzbek passport control guy (it was a Saturday, he didn't have anything else to do) wouldn't let me into the country; apart from that immigration etc seem relatively tolerant and bemused at the foreigner. I hope that China is the same, but I suspect it may be more tricky.
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